on the road to Pennsic
Thu Jul 26 11:11:24 EDT 2018
Sunday 15:15
The car is loaded. I'm going through the packing list again. Frozen OJ concentrate and the moustache comb had been overlooked.
Sunday 15:45
Leaving. Anniemal suggested corn on the cob. I thought that would be good road food, so I nuked a couple and brought them along.
Sunday 16:15
I'm at the office. Traffic was bad coming in. (Maybe that's normal?) I printed the Pennsic Pile, and it's a thick stack of pages. I guess I missed printing it before. I also printed a copy of my registration receipt, but I've never needed it. (They've always found it at Troll (check-in) from my name/ID.) I was going to submit this week's timesheet too, but I didn't remember that I needed the SecurID fob and I left it in the car. Going back to the car and then back to my office was too much bother. (And I'm worried about getting to Pennsic before midnight, when Troll closes.) I should be able to submit my time on the cell phone.
Sunday 16:45
Leaving work. Thank you, Google Maps, for pointing out that it's faster to leave DC to the northwest by going south to pick up the the George Washington Parkway in Virginia, and head up along the Potomac to the Beltway.
Sunday 18:15
I stopped at the Maryland Welcome Center on I-70. (If you're headed west on I-70, it's quite a ways from the MD border.) I ate the first ear of corn and had a 3rd blueberry muffin (2 for breakfast).
Sunday 18:40
Back on the road.
Sunday 19:30
Stopped for gas in Hancock, MD. There was also an accident at the exit, and traffic was snarled. I noticed on a previous trip that gas was a lot cheaper in Hancock than in Breezewood, PA - where "everyone" buys gas getting off or before getting on the PA Turnpike.
Sunday 20:25
I've stopped at a Walmart to get tarps, a digital multimeter, and bread.
Leaving Hancock, I looked for the I-70 exit on the other side of town, but I missed it. (The exit I took into Hancock is peculiar, and I don't think you can get back on there going west. You'd have to go east and turn around at the next exit; besides wasting time/distance, you'd have to crawl through the accident congestion again.) I was driving into the sun, and I probably was unable to see a sign I needed. Or there wasn't a sign. I ended up heading west on MD 144, which had some pretty views. Eventually it was next to a major highway; that turned out to be I-68, not I-70. I was able to take I-68 east about 3 miles (4.8km) to get back to I-70. (I did miss the rest of the back-up for the accident.)
Gas in Breezewood cost 30¢/gal (8¢/l) more than Hancock.
Sunday 20:45
Leaving Walmart with 3 tarps and a fancy-ish DMM. I got a heavy tarp for a groundcloth (protecting the tent floor), a lighter one for the internal "bathtub" floor (to keep stuff dry inside the tent), and a 2nd lighter one that can be used as a staging area for unloading/loading, keeping things off the ground and clean. I think I did find last year's staging tarp at home. It's way too small; I didn't realize it should have been twice the size, so it could be folded over everything in case it rained. (And I think it was raining when I arrived last year.)
The DMM can non-contact sense current, and also measures temperature. If my wiring's good, I won't even need it. But I'm not the only one in camp doing photovoltaic stuff.
Moonday 01:16
I'm at Pennsic. My tent is "up", but it will probably need to be moved, so I have not staked it down, and all I have in it is a light; tarp; cot; sleeping bag; my knapsack (w/ flashlights); the computer; a the bag of cables, chargers, and headphones, and a little food. My very late dinner is the 2nd ear of corn and a 4th blueberry muffin. I'll sleep here tonight, and things will get moved tomorrow. My toothbrush is not where I can get to it without unloading a lot from the car. (I should pack/load with some consideration of access to things I'll need if I miss the Troll cut-off.)
Cat arrived, but after midnight and missed Troll. We've parked her car at the camp's storage locker, and snuck her in for the night on someone else's medallion. Tomorrow someone will take her back to her car and she can come in properly. Her tent is already here (from the storage), but she's missing some things she'd want for the night.
Gas prices were pretty stable the rest of the trip. Most PA gas stations had regular gas at $3.099/gal; a couple were $3.079, and one was $3.059. The "new" gas station next to Pennsic, which is usually cheap (for PA) was $3.109.
I'm using the laptop with the new battery I bought a few weeks ago. I couldn't have done this last year on the crappy battery that came with the laptop. All of Pennsic I had to use it connected to the monster battery with an adaptor. (I haven't unpacked that stuff yet, since we need to move the tent tomorrow.)
Moonday 01:58
I think everyone has gone to bed.
[This entry was originally posted as https://syntonic-comma.dreamwidth.org/1007808.html on Dreamwidth (where there are
comments).]
Sunday 15:15
The car is loaded. I'm going through the packing list again. Frozen OJ concentrate and the moustache comb had been overlooked.
Sunday 15:45
Leaving. Anniemal suggested corn on the cob. I thought that would be good road food, so I nuked a couple and brought them along.
Sunday 16:15
I'm at the office. Traffic was bad coming in. (Maybe that's normal?) I printed the Pennsic Pile, and it's a thick stack of pages. I guess I missed printing it before. I also printed a copy of my registration receipt, but I've never needed it. (They've always found it at Troll (check-in) from my name/ID.) I was going to submit this week's timesheet too, but I didn't remember that I needed the SecurID fob and I left it in the car. Going back to the car and then back to my office was too much bother. (And I'm worried about getting to Pennsic before midnight, when Troll closes.) I should be able to submit my time on the cell phone.
Sunday 16:45
Leaving work. Thank you, Google Maps, for pointing out that it's faster to leave DC to the northwest by going south to pick up the the George Washington Parkway in Virginia, and head up along the Potomac to the Beltway.
Sunday 18:15
I stopped at the Maryland Welcome Center on I-70. (If you're headed west on I-70, it's quite a ways from the MD border.) I ate the first ear of corn and had a 3rd blueberry muffin (2 for breakfast).
Sunday 18:40
Back on the road.
Sunday 19:30
Stopped for gas in Hancock, MD. There was also an accident at the exit, and traffic was snarled. I noticed on a previous trip that gas was a lot cheaper in Hancock than in Breezewood, PA - where "everyone" buys gas getting off or before getting on the PA Turnpike.
Sunday 20:25
I've stopped at a Walmart to get tarps, a digital multimeter, and bread.
Leaving Hancock, I looked for the I-70 exit on the other side of town, but I missed it. (The exit I took into Hancock is peculiar, and I don't think you can get back on there going west. You'd have to go east and turn around at the next exit; besides wasting time/distance, you'd have to crawl through the accident congestion again.) I was driving into the sun, and I probably was unable to see a sign I needed. Or there wasn't a sign. I ended up heading west on MD 144, which had some pretty views. Eventually it was next to a major highway; that turned out to be I-68, not I-70. I was able to take I-68 east about 3 miles (4.8km) to get back to I-70. (I did miss the rest of the back-up for the accident.)
Gas in Breezewood cost 30¢/gal (8¢/l) more than Hancock.
Sunday 20:45
Leaving Walmart with 3 tarps and a fancy-ish DMM. I got a heavy tarp for a groundcloth (protecting the tent floor), a lighter one for the internal "bathtub" floor (to keep stuff dry inside the tent), and a 2nd lighter one that can be used as a staging area for unloading/loading, keeping things off the ground and clean. I think I did find last year's staging tarp at home. It's way too small; I didn't realize it should have been twice the size, so it could be folded over everything in case it rained. (And I think it was raining when I arrived last year.)
The DMM can non-contact sense current, and also measures temperature. If my wiring's good, I won't even need it. But I'm not the only one in camp doing photovoltaic stuff.
Moonday 01:16
I'm at Pennsic. My tent is "up", but it will probably need to be moved, so I have not staked it down, and all I have in it is a light; tarp; cot; sleeping bag; my knapsack (w/ flashlights); the computer; a the bag of cables, chargers, and headphones, and a little food. My very late dinner is the 2nd ear of corn and a 4th blueberry muffin. I'll sleep here tonight, and things will get moved tomorrow. My toothbrush is not where I can get to it without unloading a lot from the car. (I should pack/load with some consideration of access to things I'll need if I miss the Troll cut-off.)
Cat arrived, but after midnight and missed Troll. We've parked her car at the camp's storage locker, and snuck her in for the night on someone else's medallion. Tomorrow someone will take her back to her car and she can come in properly. Her tent is already here (from the storage), but she's missing some things she'd want for the night.
Gas prices were pretty stable the rest of the trip. Most PA gas stations had regular gas at $3.099/gal; a couple were $3.079, and one was $3.059. The "new" gas station next to Pennsic, which is usually cheap (for PA) was $3.109.
I'm using the laptop with the new battery I bought a few weeks ago. I couldn't have done this last year on the crappy battery that came with the laptop. All of Pennsic I had to use it connected to the monster battery with an adaptor. (I haven't unpacked that stuff yet, since we need to move the tent tomorrow.)
Moonday 01:58
I think everyone has gone to bed.
[This entry was originally posted as https://syntonic-comma.dreamwidth.org/1007808.html on Dreamwidth (where there are
comments).]